This Detroit Area Study explored views on welfare as well as
contact and experiences with government welfare agencies. The survey
sought opinions on a gamut of welfare issues such as the level of
government spending on Aid for Dependent Children, unemployment
benefits, social security and food stamps, government aid to minorities
and to communities losing industrial plants, whether government aid to
the poor tends to make people lazy and dependent or helps to reduce
crime and urban... (more info)

This Detroit Area Study explored views on welfare as well as
contact and experiences with government welfare agencies. The survey
sought opinions on a gamut of welfare issues such as the level of
government spending on Aid for Dependent Children, unemployment
benefits, social security and food stamps, government aid to minorities
and to communities losing industrial plants, whether government aid to
the poor tends to make people lazy and dependent or helps to reduce
crime and urban unrest, whether farmers, veterans, and home-owners were
deserving of government aid or tax relief, and whether the government
should guarantee everyone a minimum income or provide medical care or
college tuition to the needy or to everyone as a matter of right.
Respondents were asked to report on their encounters with public
welfare agencies, including reasons for the contact, number of contacts
during the last year, pre-contact expectations about services that
would be received, whether or not needed services were actually
obtained, and satisfaction with the way their requests were handled.
Other items covered by the survey are political identification, vote in
the 1980 presidential elections, trust and confidence in the federal
government, and opinions on waste and inefficiency in various federal
government programs including protection of the environment and
national defense. Additional information gathered by the survey
includes number of children and adults residing in the household,
household income and its sources, respondents' age, sex, race, marital
status, religious preference, and income, and the education, employment
status, occupation, and industry of respondents and their spouses.

Dataset(s)

Study Description

Citation

Hasenfeld, Yeheskel, and Meyer Zald. DETROIT AREA STUDY, 1983: ATTITUDES AND EXPERIENCES IN DETROIT. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan, Dept. of Sociology [producer], 1983. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 1990. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR09305.v1

Universe:
Adults ages 18 and older residing in households located in
the Michigan counties of Oakland, Macomb, or Wayne.

Data Types:
survey data

Data Collection Notes:

The codebook is provided by ICPSR as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF reader software, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web site.

The dataset contains a weight variable to combine the
two parts of the sample.

Methodology

Sample:
The sample consists of two parts. The first is a multistage
area probability sample of housing units drawn from all of Wayne,
Oakland, and Macomb counties. The second is a multistage area
probability sample of housing units drawn from those tri-county block
groups and enumeration districts for which the 1979 median household
income was less than $10,000. In both parts, one adult aged 18 or over
was randomly selected from each sampled housing unit. The first part of
the sample has 523 respondents, the second has 159.

Data Source:

personal interviews

Restrictions: In order to preserve respondent confidentiality,
certain identifying variables are restricted from general
dissemination. Aggregations of this information for statistical
purposes that preserve the anonymity of individual respondents can be
obtained from ICPSR in accordance with existing servicing policies.